The present invention relates generally to interactive television and information retrieval. More particularly, the invention relates to a speech-enabled system whereby a users spoken requests for information are recognized, parsed and supplied to a search engine for retrieving information pertinent to the user's request.
The number and variety of TV programs available to viewers is growing rapidly. Thus viewers require a rapid, user-friendly way of searching for broadcasts that suit their tastes and needs. Much information about TV programs is available on various Internet sites, but access to those sites requires logging onto a computer and typing in key words.
Ideally, the user would like to be able to obtain information from Internet sites while he or she is using the television, by making spoken requests to the television and having it obtain the requested information. Thus a user could simply tell the television what he or she wants to see: “Show me any international water polo event”, for example, and the TV would access the Internet to find out when and on what channel such a program is broadcast. Using the information as downloaded, the TV would also be able to answer questions about the broadcast such as “What teams are playing?”
By way of further example, the user, viewing a particular program about mountain climbing, might want more information about the tallest mountain peaks and when they were first climbed. The user would like to be able to ask the television to find answers to these questions and then display the results on screen or through synthesized spoken response.
Unfortunately, this type of sophisticated interaction with the television has not been possible. The present invention breaks new ground in this regard. The invention provides a speech recognition system with associated language parser that will extract the semantic content or meaning from a user's spoken command or inquiry, and formulate a search request suitable for supplying to one or more internet search engines. The parser contains a reconfigurable grammar by which it can understand the meaning of a users spoken request within a given context. The grammar itself may be reconfigured via the Internet, based on knowledge of what the user is currently viewing. This knowledge may be supplied by electronic program guide or as part of the digital television data stream.
The results obtained from the search engines may be further analyzed by the parser, to select the most likely candidates that respond to the users original inquiry. These results are then provided to the user on screen or through synthesized speech, or both.
For a more complete understanding of the invention, its objects and advantages, refer to the following specification and to the accompanying drawings.